TNT Tropang 5G\u2019s Chris McCullough during a game vs Meralco Bolts within the 2026 PBA Commissioner\u2019s Cup semifinals. \u2013MARLO CUETO\/INQUIRER.net<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Chris McCullough made good on his promise once he found his rhythm, delivering on Friday to place TNT on the point of one other PBA Finals appearance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just needed to get my legs underneath me,\u201d McCullough said after erupting for 42 points within the Tropang 5G\u2019s 103-95 victory over the Meralco Bolts and a 3-2 lead of their Commissioner\u2019s Cup semifinal series.<\/p>\n
READ: PBA: Chris McCullough finally finds groove for TNT in pivotal win<\/strong><\/p>\n McCullough shot 16-of-28 from the sphere and knocked down several key baskets within the fourth quarter despite the defensive efforts of the Bolts, particularly Javee Mocon. It was a stark contrast to Game 4, when the previous San Miguel Beer import was still attempting to shake off the rust.<\/p>\n He went just 7-of-22 from the sphere and scored 24 points in TNT\u2019s 101-90 loss to Meralco two nights earlier.<\/p>\n After that game, McCullough acknowledged his struggles but warned that \u201conce I get going, it\u2019ll be scary.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI had two weeks off from playing basketball,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I\u2019m just glad to be back, glad to be playing.\u201d<\/p>\n TNT moved inside one win of securing a fifth straight Finals appearance, a feat McCullough and company can achieve on Sunday on the Ynares Center in Antipolo. But TNT\u2019s substitute for Bol Bol knows the Bolts still have a say within the series.<\/p>\n Chris McCullough (right) \u2014MARLO CUETO<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe job isn\u2019t finished. We want another,\u201d McCullough said after a performance that also included 11 rebounds.<\/p>\n It was greater than just the McCullough show, as TNT once more received major contributions from its local stars, particularly Jordan Heading and RR Pogoy.<\/p>\n Heading scored 22 points and hit five straight markers that helped TNT create separation from Meralco, extending the result in 103-93 with lower than two minutes remaining. He also dished out six assists.<\/p>\n Pogoy continued his strong series, ending with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting.<\/p>\n \u201cOur key coming into this game was our defensive game plan and ensuring we got good shots,\u201d TNT coach Chot Reyes said. \u201cBecause within the last game, we had so many turnovers and gave up 26 points off them. You’ll be able to\u2019t defend a turnover. That\u2019s very hard.<\/p>\n \u201cSo for us, to assist our defense, we needed to ensure that that we got good shots. Which means taking shots and never throwing the ball away or turning it over.\u201d<\/p>\n TNT committed 15 turnovers in Game 4 but reduced that number to 11 in Game 5, limiting Meralco to simply 11 points off those mistakes.<\/p>\n Import Patrick Gardner finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Bolts, but picked up his fifth foul early within the fourth quarter with Meralco trailing, 88-83, and lower than seven minutes remaining.<\/p>\n That was when McCullough began to take over.<\/p>\n His back to back three pointers with 5:22 left gave TNT a 94-85 advantage and helped spark the decisive run that moved the Tropang 5G inside a victory of the Finals. INQ<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" TNT Tropang 5G\u2019s Chris McCullough during a game vs Meralco Bolts within the 2026 PBA Commissioner\u2019s Cup semifinals. \u2013MARLO CUETO\/INQUIRER.net Chris McCullough made good on his promise once he found his rhythm, delivering on Friday to place TNT on the point of one other PBA Finals appearance. \u201cI just needed to get my legs underneath […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":342903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338],"tags":[5776,669,52195,1534,1245],"class_list":["post-342902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-closer","tag-finals","tag-mccullough","tag-puts","tag-tnt"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342902"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":342905,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342902\/revisions\/342905"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/342903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Chris](\"https:\/\/sports.inquirer.net\/files\/2026\/05\/Sports1231592-1200x800.jpg\")
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